[imText1]North Korean workers working for the construction Kiupso (state enterprises) receive monthly wage of 1,800 Won($0.9) and 476g of grain per day, only for the worker himself. <\/p>\n
Choi Keum Chul (pseudonym, age 47), a former construction worker at a Kiupso located in H. city, who defected in June testifies, \u201cWith the monthly wage of 1,800 Won($0.9), only 2kg of rice could be bought. They give 476 g of grain a day only for the worker himself. It is impossible to live and eat normally (enough to survive).\u201d <\/p>\n
Following is the interview with Choi. <\/p>\n
– What did you do in North Korea? <\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cI worked nine years at the City Construction Unit, a branch under the Construction Department of the H. City in North Hamkyong province. The construction kiupsos in North Korea are called \u201cunits\u201d as for the military units. When given with a city construction task, it is called, \u201ccity construction unit,\u201d and with a agriculture construction task, a \u201cagriculture construction unit.\u201d There were 87 workers in our unit, and my job was to make bricks.\u201d <\/p>\n
Monthly Wage of a Chief Construction Worker Only 2,700 Won($1.35) <\/b><\/font><\/p>\n – How much was the pay? <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cMonthly pay is 1,800 Won($0.9). They give it in cash. The workers in the construction unit get raise according to their working years. If you have worked over 15 years, you receive 9%-10% raise. At first you are level 1 and the highest is level 5. The chief construction worker is level 5. His wage is 2,700 Won($1.35). <\/p>\n – Do they give food?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cSince it is hard physical labor, they give food regularly. They do not give food to the normal civilians. I received 476g of mixed grain of rice, barley and corn. Family members do not receive food. There were more than 90 people in our construction unit including cadres. There were three women and the rest were men with families. The monthly wage is only enough to buy 2kg of rice. They receive food only for themselves, so men cannot support their family.\u201d <\/p>\n – Do they distribute food from the construction unit? <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cOnce in two weeks, they distribute grain at the construction unit. They also give \u201cticket for rice\u201d but it\u2019s good for nothing. They try to give out the thought that in the future the state will go back to the regular food distribution system, but there is no food at the food policy departments.”<\/p>\n – How many hours do you work a day? <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cYou work 6 days a week and you take Wednesdays off. The Kiupso in North Hamkyong province take Wednesdays off. This is because of the difficult electricity situation, there\u2019s no electricity on Wednesdays. In days off you get food. You work eight hours a day and once you go out, you work until late. <\/p>\n 3D (dirty, dangerous, difficult) <\/b><\/font><\/p>\n – I would assume there are many people willing to join the construction unit if money and food are provided…<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThere are only workers with technical skills in the construction unit. You cannot join without any skills. Nowadays, skilled people are few, and are unwilling to join. With 1,800 won a month and 476g of grain per day you cannot even feed yourself. If is hard to make a living already, who will be willing to join the construction unit? Everyone went out to business.\u201d<\/p>\n – How are the National Construction Kiupso(s) doing? <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cLight industry kiupso or daily necessaries factories stopped working. So there is no work even if you want to. Worker\u2019s pay the state certain amount every month to not go to work. However, the construction unit is different. The construction unit is directly controlled by the state. The work department of the city controls coming and going of the workers. One worker who did not come to work for two weeks in March was called a \u201c(self) unemployed wanderer\u201d and was taken to the labor concentration camp.\u201d <\/p>\n Construction Work for Cadres to Earn Merits <\/b><\/font><\/p>\n – North Korean economy is bad these days, is there that much work for the workers to do everyday? <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe City Construction Department is under the management of the Provincial Construction Agency. However, all the work they make up are to award themselves. It is used for propaganda purposes, \u201cWe have constructed ten new apartments in 00city and improved living standard of the residents.\u201d Also the high level cadres can make some profit. When they say they build new apartments, it means they move to the new apartments themselves and they sell (distribute) to others. If they construct buildings in the markets, the state collects tax from the sellers in the markets. The benefits created by the constructions go to the cadres or the state rather than the people.\u201d <\/p>\n – Are the materials and equipments provided by the state? <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThey do, but it\u2019s nothing more than cement. They bring cement from \u201cKomu Mountain Cement Factory.\u201d We have to bring sand from the river backs or dig sand from the bottom of the river in the H. city. All the equipment we had was an old tractor. When it broke down, it cost tons of money to fix. They buy the broken parts from the market and even the small parts such as a 208 or 308 bearing cost 300 Won($0.15) to 500 Won($0.25) each. Even the tools such as shovel or hoe were bought by the unit.\u201d <\/p>\n Construction Materials Sold in the Market<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n – How does it buy tools itself? <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe construction department can use \u201cnon-cash bills\u201d (similar to checks – editor\u2019s note) within the budget given by the state. They bring back the construction tools from the tool making Kiupso by giving them the bills. When they take the bill to the bank, the can get cash as much as it is written on the bill. All the North Korean Kiupsos do their business with these bills. However, the national banks do not have cash, so the Kiupsos refuse to accept the bills and demand for cash. For this reason they take the money to the market and buy the tools there with cash.\u201d <\/p>\n – Where to they get cash?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe easiest way is to sell brick in the market. There is a high demand for bricks because when people rebuild or fix their houses, they need bricks. Sometimes they sell gasoline or coal they receive from the state in the market instead of using them in the construction to make cash.\u201d <\/p>\n A Bowl of Gruel for the People Involved in the Construction<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n – You said there were 90 people in your unit. Can you do such big construction projects such as building of apartments with such a small number of workers?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThey do not conduct the construction only with the people in the unit. We are responsible for the technical part, and simple labor is done by the people who were sent to the construction site. Although the workers in the unit have pretty hard time, the situation of people involved in the simple labor is worse. Those people involved do not receive food either. They are simply given a bowl of corn gruel. Of course, there is no wage for them.\u201d <\/p>\n – Did you regret your defection? <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cMy wife who went out during the March of Suffering period (during the mass starvation period in the mid-1990s) saying she will bring food back from her family never came back and I do not know whether she\u2019s alive or not. I took care of my two daughters for six years now. My oldest daughter sold soup and rice in the market when she was eighteen years old. One day she came back home bruised and bleeding all over her body. She said on the way home she met burglars, they beat her up and robber all her money. On that day, I lost all my motivations to live in North Korea, so I crossed the Yalu River with my two daughters.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [imText1]North Korean workers working for the construction Kiupso (state enterprises) receive monthly wage of 1,800 Won($0.9) and 476g of grain per day, only for the worker himself. Choi Keum Chul (pseudonym, age 47), a former construction worker at a Kiupso located in H. city, who defected in June testifies, \u201cWith the monthly wage of 1,800 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\n